'If you focus on what you have left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead.'

Friday, August 18, 2017

Of Late Night Writing and Early Morning Discoveries.

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Q. What happens when you write an emotional piece on your
phone at midnight, when your mind is numb with sleep, hands are exhausted of
typing, and heart is overflowing with emotion?

A. You create an incomprehensible piece of writing, which is
high on sentiment, and negative on form, grammar, language, and every other
parameter of decent writing.

As a rule I never post my pieces immediately after finishing
them. I let them rest for sometime and let my thoughts simmer a little more.
This gives me an opportunity to ensure what goes out is not only accurate but
also structured well. Sometimes, however, I fall in the trap of “me too”. Last
night was one such night.

After having stayed away from my blog, Facebook, and even
Instagram for a while, I desperately wanted to write a something about my
home-town-in-law. The idea was to put a small note on Instagram and follow it
up with a longer piece on my travel page. So even as my back ached, fingers
hurt, and mind almost shut down with exhaustion, I typed a longish post and put
it up. The writing was a little raw, but I was okay with that: it was only on Instagram
after all and I would have revised it before putting it on more formal forums.
What I had not noticed was that I was simultaneously posting it on Facebook.

This morning, when I found notifications about the post on
my feed, I realized what I had done. The post was high on emotion, but had no
structure and form. The sentences were incomprehensible, the paragraphs were
misplaced; there were vocabulary issues and punctuation errors. I tried to
salvage the it by editing, but it was too late -- it had already been read and
opinions had already been formed.

With so much conversation happening about writing
everywhere, I do not think I ought to add anything more about the topic. But,
as a person who has published over a hundred travel and food pieces in national
dailies and weeklies, and uncountable blog posts on established forums on the
Internet, I only want to emphasize upon the importance of structure and syntax.
And, may I add, patience.

Being particular about what you write is not about being or
not being a grammar Nazi. Nor is it about putting a person down. It is only
about your honesty towards a craft you have chosen to pursue and respect for
the language you have chosen to write in. It maybe okay to compromise on
sentiment sometimes, but it is never okay to compromise on structure. Because
showing respect to your craft is the least you can do. Isn’t it?